The Miami mayor said Sunday that he hopes a reopening pause and new security precautions will slow the growth of coronavirus cases in his city.
“It’s clear that growth is exponential right now,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on ABC’s “This Week.” “You know we’ve been beating record after record after record for the past few weeks.”
Suarez, who agreed with Miami-Dade County’s decision to close the beaches for the July 4 holiday weekend, attributed the increase in cases to the reopening of bars and restaurants.
“There is no doubt that when we reopened, people began to socialize as if the virus did not exist,” he said. “It is extremely worrying.”
The Republican mayor said he is optimistic that closing the beaches, implementing stricter rules for wearing masks, and escalating sanctions against companies that fail to comply with security restrictions will halt cases.
“If people wear the masks in public, there is a good chance that we can slow down or stop the spread. So that’s the reason why we do it, ”he said.
Florida reported 10,059 cases on Sunday after reporting 11,458 cases on Saturday: the Sunshine State now has a total of 200,111 cases.
Meanwhile, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Sunday that he is concerned about running out of hospital beds.
“If we don’t get this virus under control quickly, our hospitals could be in serious trouble,” he said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “The main problem is staffing … we can always provide additional beds, but we need the people, the nurses, and everyone else in the medical profession to take care of those beds.”
Texas reported 8,238 new cases on Saturday, bringing the state’s total cases to 191,790. Hospitalizations in Houston increased from 1,691 patients on June 27 to 2,369 a week later on July 4, according to the San Antonio Express News.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott last week issued an executive order requiring people to wear masks in public in certain counties and closed bars and reduced the seating capacity of restaurants.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler echoed Turner’s concerns that his city’s hospitals could be flooded.
“If we don’t change the trajectory, I am within two weeks of the invasion of our hospitals. And in our intensive care units, it could be 10 days from that, “the Democrat said on CNN’s” State of the Union. “
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